


Black Sheep, Black Sheep

by towokuwusatsuwu



Category: Kamen Rider Fourze
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Coma, Fluff and Mush, Friendship/Love, Hospital Visit, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-11
Updated: 2017-05-11
Packaged: 2018-10-30 17:08:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,644
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10881231
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/towokuwusatsuwu/pseuds/towokuwusatsuwu
Summary: Gentaro Kisaragi decides to start visiting Tatsumori Yamada in the hospital when the former Aries Zodiarts still does not awaken from his coma. The Kamen Rider Club decides to join him, as well as an unexpected visitor.





	Black Sheep, Black Sheep

“Where are you going, Gentaro?” Kengo asks, glancing up from where he’s stretched across his bed, a college brochure open in front of his face.

Gentaro jumps a little at the abrupt disruption to the silence they’ve been sitting in for the last hour or so. Kengo had invited him over to look over college brochures together, though Gentaro isn’t entirely sure he qualifies for any of the fancy schools Kengo pressures him into investigating; it seems more like a smaller, local college for him. Still, when he had noticed the time on his phone, he realized he needed to pack up and get ready to catch the train to the hospital. He could always ride his bike, but it seems too disruptive.

“I’m going to see Yamada in the hospital,” he says, double-checking to make sure he has what he needs with him. “Remember he’s still in that coma? He’s not woken up even though we beat all the Horoscopes, so I’ve been going to visit him.”

The flat expression Kengo gives him only serves to confuse him. “Why are you visiting Yamada in the hospital in the first place? He asked Ryusei to kill you.”

“I know that. I already forgave him for that during the first visit.” Gentaro beams at him, inwardly puzzled as to why Kengo would point that out in the first place. If he was able to forgive Ryusei for killing him, then obviously he would be able to forgive the person who ordered it.

“You’re something else, you know.” Kengo sits up slowly, rolling his shoulders and neck in turn. “So, why are you visiting him, then? You said he was still in a coma.”

“Which is precisely why he needs visitors. You know they say that people in comas can still hear you, so I thought it must be awfully lonely just laying there day after day in the quiet. Especially when everyone said Yamada was real quiet to begin with.” Gentaro shoulders his bag, rocking back and forth on his heels, watching the way Kengo looks at him. Something has changed in Kengo’s gaze, but he isn’t quite sure what it is. “And he liked to read, you know? So I go and read to him when I have time. It’s the least I could do.”

Kengo sighs softly and scoots back on his bed, crossing his arms over his chest, a thoughtful expression on his face. “This is obviously something that means a lot to you.”

“Well… Yeah. If I was in a hospital bed all alone I’d want people to read to me.” Gentaro checks his phone again, then gives Kengo an apologetic smile. “Sorry, but I gotta go. I got a train to catch. I’ll text you when I leave the hospital.”

As soon as Gentaro slips out of the room, Kengo retrieves his phone from his pocket and pulls up the group chat for the Kamen RIder Club. If this is important to Gentaro, then it’s something all of them should do to support him.

* * *

Tatsumori Yamada’s hospital room is as clean and pristine as any of the other rooms in the hospital, but Gentaro has been here often enough that he no longer associates the room with coldness. Instead, he sweeps the dead flowers off of Yamada’s side table and replaces them with the fresh ones he picked up as soon as he stepped off of the train, then opens the blinds to let in a little sunlight. He isn’t sure if anyone other than Yamada’s parents have come to visit him since he’s come here, but Gentaro has made an effort to come at least once a week.

A quick conversation with the nurse in the hall had told him that there had been no change in Yamada’s condition, which is disappointing, but he understands. The Aries Zodiarts had been a difficult enemy to take on with a potent power, so Gentaro imagines carrying that power had been more than a little exhausting for him to deal with. The other students who had housed a Zodiarts had been hospitalized afterward, too. Just not for this long…

The only other person he really has to compare Yamada to is Natsuji Kijima, but he returned to school a couple of weeks after returning from stasis from aboard the M-Bus. Cancer had also been powerful, strong enough to achieve Supernova form, but Kijima had seemed more or less his normal self when he returned to school. The rest of the Horoscopes students had been the same; Gentaro really wonders if something more might be wrong with him.

Still, once he’s gotten the lighting right, he sets his bag on the floor and takes his normal seat, pulling out one of the comic books he’d brought with him. He isn’t sure what Yamada likes to read, and asking around at school had only proven that Yamada really had next to no friends at Amanogawa to begin with. So Gentaro had picked a few of his own favorite comic books to read to him with the hopes it would amuse him enough while Gentaro is here.

“Right on time,” he says to the still form on the bed, propping his feet up on the edge of Yamada’s bed after slipping his shoes off. “I hope you don’t mind. It’s been a long day. Anyway, I brought along the next issue. I’ve got them all, so I won’t leave you hanging.”

He glances at Yamada’s face, trying to decide if he notes any changes, before he flips open the cover. “So, anyway, where we left off last time.”

* * *

“Only Gentaro would go the extra mile for someone who got him killed,” JK muses, tapping the page Kengo had lain on the table with one painted fingernail. “So I take it this means we’re going to pick up the extra slack and go read to Yamada too?”

Kengo nods, blowing lightly on his bowl of ramen while the rest of the Kamen Rider Club passes the sheet of paper around. He had gone through the trouble of calling the hospital and asking what visiting hours were, then typed up a timetable so that everyone could pick the times best suited for them to visit Yamada. Initially, he was uncertain if the others would be up for the idea. They had all been present when Gentaro had been killed, and they had all suffered at Yamada’s hands when they visited Subaruboshi to stop him.

But the more he thought about it, the more determined he was to at least pursue the plan and try to put it into action. He knew what it was like to have few to no friends, and the few people who had once called Yamada a friend in the Amanogawa drama club were pretending as though they had never known him. Kengo understands, of course. What he had done was terrible, and it was only natural that people were reluctant to acknowledge their former relationships with him. Still, Gentaro had gone out of his way to spend time with Yamada, and Kengo felt that backing him up was the right thing to do.

And judging by the considerate expressions on the faces of his friends, he imagines they aren’t against the idea, either. They had been quick to forgive Ryusei once it was clear Gentaro had, and evidently that continued to be a theme they all shared.

“It must be lonely not having anyone come see him,” Haru muses; Ran links her arm with his and gives him a small smile. “Can people in comas really still hear you, though?”

“I looked into that before I made the phone call, just to be safe,” Kengo says, sitting up. “What I found was that a lot of coma patients do report they are able to hear, and that the reason people assume that all of them can is that your sense of hearing is usually the last to deteriorate during death. In other words, it’s highly likely he can still hear people who come to see him.”

Miu frowns at this, glancing up from the timetable. “Which means he’d known when he’s alone.”

“Likely so,” Kengo agrees; the mood at the table shifts considerably.

“This isn’t going to be that hard to work school around,” Shun finally says, pulling out what Kengo assumes is a planner and flipping through the pages. “I’ve got free time during visiting hours, so I’ll definitely go see him.”

“Me, too,” Miu chimes in. “Maybe we can even go together a couple of times. It might be nice for him to have more than one person there.”

“I’ll definitely go. Even if I didn’t achieve it by any wholesome means, he still helped me save Jiro’s life, and I’m grateful for that at the very least,” Ryusei says.

The rest of the members chime in just the same, discussing their schedules back and forth across the table while they each start adding their names to the schedule. Kengo smiles a little at the sight and makes a mental note to scan the schedule when he returns home so he can email it to Gentaro and show him the surprise.

* * *

The next afternoon, Kengo finds himself following Gentaro’s hastily-scrawled directions to Yamada’s hospital room. This is far from the first time he’s been in a hospital, considering the condition his body used to constantly be in; he practically lived in them as a child. Still, seeing one of his fellow classmates lying in a coma is hard to stomach. Yamada is the sole person who has not recovered from the time he spent as the Aries Zodiarts; even Miss Sonoda is fighting fit once again. It makes Kengo wonder why.

He adjusts the blinds in the room to a better lighting before sitting down in the chair beside Yamada’s bed, clearing his throat. It’s awkward to talk to someone who can’t talk back, but Gentaro had been firm that they had to introduce themselves and say hello. Yamada needed more than just reading to get him through this, at least according to Gentaro, and Kengo is at least willing to give it a shot.

“Good afternoon, Yamada,” he says softly, his eyes flicking to one of the monitors keeping track of Yamada’s vital signs. “Gentaro told us he was coming to see you, and as a whole we decided we would all be coming to read to you as our schedules permitted. If you don’t recognize my voice, I’m Kengo Utahoshi.”

He watches Yamada’s face for any signs that he’s heard, but of course, there’s nothing. Gentaro had said the same, that he always checked to see if there was any sign Yamada might be about to wake up, but Kengo knows better than to hold out for that kind of hope. If Yamada is still like this, there might be a chance he isn’t coming back any time soon.

“I brought one of my newer books with me,” he says, fishing said book out of his bag. “Actually, you know, Gentaro got it for me for Christmas. He saw it when he was looking for presents and he thought I would like it. You’d be surprised, I think. It’s about engineering. I didn’t realize he knew I had such a vested interest in it.”

The memory makes him smile fondly, and it only makes even more sense that Gentaro would go this far to try to help him out. Kengo shakes his head at the thought and opens the book, smoothing down the first page. Gentaro always puts others before himself, determined to help everyone he can, to become true friends with everyone, even the people that have only ever held animosity for him. That doesn’t change just because the level of animosity changes; he had even made friends with Gamou after Gamou had killed Kengo.

“I know Gentaro already forgave you,” he says, glancing toward the bed, “and so I can only extend the same forgiveness. I don’t know if you’re familiar with engineering, I just know you were interested in drama, so I’ll do my best to make sure you can follow along.”

* * *

“Um, miss?” The nurse on duty at the desk raises an eyebrow at the plushie held securely beneath Yuki’s arm, her expression doubtful. “What exactly is that?”

“This is Hayabusa-kun! I brought him here to see Yamada since I know he’s been having an especially rough time lately.” Yuki beams at the nurse, adjusting the strap of her bag on her shoulder. “I’m just going to read to him now.”

The nurse’s confused expression softens into a smile and she nods. “I see. Well, it’s nice to see more people showing up to visit him. I’m sure it’ll help.”

“If Gen-chan and Kengo think it’ll help, then it will.” In this, at least, Yuki is certain. Her own research about coma patients had been rather depressing, and with no cases like Yamada’s in all of the world, there was little they could do other than visit him and hold out hope. Even speaking to the other former Horoscopes had turned up little in terms of what they could use to help Yamada, and some of them— Goto and Erin— had had their memories wiped clean.

The nurse nods and Yuki double checks the room number on the piece of paper Kengo had given her before peeking into the room to make sure she has the right one. Even if she had only met Yamada the once at Subaruboshi and had never seen him around her school, there really would be no mistaking his hair— wild curls spread all over the pillows. She closes the door softly behind her and bounces over to the chair, pausing to open the blinds.

“This is really a nice room you have here,” she says, undeterred to know she’s going to be having a one-sided conversation. After all, she knows people who are hesitant to open up and speak, so this is nothing new for her. “I don’t know if you can really enjoy it like that, but maybe when you’re awake, you can.”

She starts to set Hayabusa-kun on the side table when she sees the flowers recently freshened by another of Gentaro’s visits and smiles. Of course, he had been thoughtful enough to bring flowers even to someone who couldn’t look at them. She sets Hayabusa-kun on the bed instead, sitting down in the chair with her bag on her lap.

“I hope you don’t mind sharing with Hayabusa-kun,” she says, rifling through her books until she finds the one she brought to read. “He might take up a little more space than you’re used to, but he’s pretty cool! Maybe I’ll sing the song I wrote about him next time to you.”

For now, though, she opens the book she brought and starts reading. She doesn’t know much about Yamada, and trying to reach out to the drama club had been unhelpful, so she settled on a subject she knew well and could read about without stumbling: space travel. She had decided not to bring Gamou’s book, not wanting to be insensitive toward what Yamada had gone through, but she had plenty of favorites and plenty more still to read.

That this one was about constellations just happened to be accidental.

Once she finishes reading, she starts to reach for Hayabusa-kun, then stops. “You know what? You can hold on to him for now. I know you might still get lonely when we aren’t here with you, but this way, you’ll always have a friend nearby. I hope you feel better soon, Yamada.”

* * *

“I would have been able to come sooner, but between school and practice it’s been kind of hard,” are the first words out of Shun Daimonji’s mouth when he walks into the hospital room, shutting the door behind him and heading for the drapes. At Gentaro’s request, he had brought fresh flowers since Gentaro had to study for entrance exams and hadn’t been able to come and replace them himself. “I brought you flowers, though. I hope that makes up for it.”

For Shun, hospitals are nothing. He’s been in them before; participating in any athletics seriously means that he’s been injured before, and so have his teammates. This is nothing new to him, as he’s visited friends and been visited before. The only difference is that Yamada lies silent, eyes closed, and there isn’t really a chance of that changing soon. No matter. Shun can work with that and around that without a problem.

He drops down in the chair, smiling when he sees Hayabusa-kun sitting at the foot of Yamada’s bed. “I see Yuki brought you a friend, though, that’s great,” he says, leaning back, letting himself get comfortable. He finally has a free hour, and he plans on spending it here before he has to head back to his dorm. “She’s really sweet, isn’t she? She and Gentaro are a lot alike that way. Oh, wait, did you know she was a Horoscope too?”

Anyone else would have seen this line of conversation as possibly insensitive, as being a Horoscope himself had been what led to Yamada being in this state. Shun had thought about it on the ride here and had decided not to dance around the topic. Yamada would know what had happened to himself if he was as smart as everyone made him out to be, and it was better to be honest than to try to circumvent things for the sake of politeness. If they were all going to be friends, they had to be able to talk to each other.

“Yeah, she was Gemini, actually. That was kind of scary, because the darkest parts of her materialized into another person. I was pretty shocked all things considered.” Shun shifts so he can pick up his bag, retrieving the sports manga he had brought with him. It was a recommendation of JK’s, since Shun did love sports, and it might be a nice way to pass the time when he was unoccupied. “But we saved her. That’s the thing about friends. They’re always going to have your back, just like we’ll have your back when you wake up.”

He smiles toward the bed, wondering if Yamada really can hear him like Gentaro and Kengo said that he could. Though he can’t be sure himself, he hopes so. Yamada is younger than him and any senpai worth their merit would want their kouhai to feel better, but this is a special case. Shun just doesn’t want any more casualties from the Horoscopes incident.

“JK told me I might like this series, by the way. It’s about basketball, not football, but he knows me well enough to know I like sports in general. I think there are football mangas, too.” Shun turns the book around in his hands, then has a flash of inspiration. “You were in drama, right? So you probably don’t know much about sports. Well, you should come to one of my games. In fact, at the last one I had—”

* * *

JK doesn’t come to visit Yamada alone; Goto tags along behind him, and the two of them make an odd enough pair that the nurse on duty looks a bit startled when she turns from her computer to greet them. JK had changed before catching the train, not wanting to wear his school uniform, but the bright and colorful neon pink t-shirt is probably only even more eye-catching in a hospital. Goto is the exact opposite, dressed all in black, a loose band t-shirt and ripped jeans, his hair gelled straight up as per usual. JK is almost jealous about how good he makes black look.

“Are you boys here to see Yamada?” she asks, looking between the two of them.

“Yeah, we just had a question for you.” JK cocks a thumb over his shoulder, cueing Goto to lift his battered but beloved acoustic guitar up where the nurse can see it. “If we play this in his room, is it going to disturb anyone else? We wouldn’t want that.”

The nurse smiles softly, quietly to herself for just a moment, before shaking her head. “No, it won’t. Thank you for asking. I don’t think anyone’s brought musical instruments here before.”

“Reading is fun and all but we wanted to jazz things up a little,” Goto says with a bright smile, and JK feels a familiar flush of warmth spread through his body at that smile. Goto might not remember the Horoscopes incident— his memory had apparently been wiped— but nothing had changed the way they felt about each other. “We’ll try not to get too loud, just the same.”

JK scoffs at him. “When have you ever been able to stay quiet before?”

Goto laughs at him and shakes his head, and the two of them continue on to Yamada’s room, JK making sure the door is shut to keep the music from drifting out into the halls. Asking if it would disturb anyone was just a precaution, as he knows this floor is pretty quiet during the day, but he still wanted to be polite. He doesn’t bother with the blinds, since Goto could see to play in the pitch black darkness if he wanted to.

“Two for the price of one, today, Yamada,” he says, sitting on the end of the bed, patting Hayabusa-kun on the head while Goto takes the chair, tuning his strings as he does. “I brought a friend with me. You two wouldn’t have met before, but when he heard I was coming here, he wanted to come with me, and I thought you could use the company.”

“It sucks that you’re stuck in bed for a while, but maybe we can pass the time a little faster this way.” Goto strums his guitar, then nods. “I’m ready to go when you are, JK.”

JK nods, flashing him a smile, then turns his attention to the boy in bed once more. “You know, you have some nice hair. You should let me style it when you wake up,” he says, before giving his throat a small clear. “I’m not really the best singer, but… I thought you could use a song. As long as I don’t sing too loud, it doesn’t sound too bad. Right, Goto?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. I like the sound of your voice,” Goto says.

The words make JK pause for just a moment; he can still remember when Goto had pointed out to him that the others would laugh if they heard him sing, but he didn’t remember being the Capricorn Zodiarts. Maybe it had just been the power-corrupted side of him that thought that.

“Anyway,” JK says, rolling his eyes, “this next song is just for you, Yamada. I wrote it just recently, and it’s called “Reach for the Stars,” so you’ll have to wake up soon so you can tell me what you think of it.”

* * *

Tomoko had to take two trains to make it to Yamada’s hospital room in time for visiting hours, but the quiet peace of the hallway as she walks down it is well worth it. She double checks the note from JK— covered in glitter and stickers— before stepping into the room. She remembers Yamada’s face all too well considering how it was burned into her memory, as are the images from the day Gentaro had died. It had been hard to stomach, that one of her best friends and the person who thought she didn’t have to change was dead, that someone she admired as a fighter and loved as a friend was the one who had done it.

Just to be safe, she had meditated on the train to rid herself of as much negative energy as possible before coming here. Though Gentaro had forgiven Yamada, she was uncer if she could do the same. But for her friends, she wanted to. And if Gentaro was to be believed, they could make a friend out of Yamada yet.

The thought makes her smile, and she feels a little lighter as she breezes through the doorway and closes the door behind her. The room, she leaves dark. She sees Hayabusa-kun sitting at the foot of Yamada’s bed and has to fight down an absurd amount of affection for Yuki at the sight of him. But it does serve to strengthen her resolve further. After all, if Yuki was happy to give Hayabusa-kun to Yamada, then she must have faith in him.

“From what your doctor was allowed to tell Gentaro, you’ve been holding pretty stable this entire time.” Tomoko sets her bag down in the chair, picking out the contents she had brought with her. If she could, she would burn candles or light incense, but that isn’t an option in a coma ward, so she settles for a few dried herbs and a scent mixture she’d come up with herself. “I hope this doesn’t bother you too much. I mixed it specially for you.”

She makes sure everything is set out properly before sitting down, examining the pallor of Yamada’s face, the only movement apparent in him the steady rise and fall of his chest. Everything about this room is peaceful and quiet, a perfect place for someone to heal, but the fact is that while Yamada’s body was barely harmed by the fight with Gentaro, something else in him must have been badly damaged.

It makes Tomoko a little sad to think about, but she brushes the thought away. She came here with a mission in mind, after all. “I wasn’t sure to bring you to read. I’m not really close with that many people at school, so I know even less about you than the others do.”

Talking to a prone figure is awkward, Tomoko realizes, but it’s… Not so bad. She doesn’t have to raise her voice too much, and the quiet and the shadows in the room help her keep herself centered. It’s enough to dispel that last little fear she felt walking into this room unarmed with someone who had once been so powerful he was able to order Gentaro’s murder.

“I feel like I should address this before I go any further, though. What happened with Ryusei and Gentaro.” She sets her book on her lap, tracing her finger around the edge of her book. “I don’t like what you did, pitting my friends against each other. I thought it was awful. But… I’m going to do my best to forgive you, because Gentaro has been here, and Ryusei is going to come. So I’m going to do my best to forgive you, too.”

The book she brought with her is about astrology; the topic was chosen on purpose because she’s been interested in finding out more about astrology since the fight with the Horoscopes. Now, she turns to the first page and starts thumbing through the book, looking for all of the information it involves about the sign of Aries.

“You fit this a little too well, Yamada,” she says, though this time, she just means it as a joke.

* * *

As soon as visiting hours begin, Ryusei steps into the coma ward, walking purposefully toward the room he knows belongs to Yamada. Enough of the Kamen Rider Club have walked this hallway for him to have memorized the number by now, and this is all too common for him. After all, Yamada is now taking up the room Jiro had been resting in until Yamada’s powers resurrected him from that darkness. Of course, now, there is no one left to save him.

Ryusei sighs and shakes his head. He had been a different person back then. Being a member of the Kamen Rider Club, and more, being friends with Gentaro Kisaragi had changed him. He isn’t the same person he was when he was last in this ward, and he thinks he’s changed rather for the better, at least as far as he’s concerned.

He finds the room with ease and closes the door behind him, opening the blinds to fill the room with sunlight before sitting down in the chair. Yamada is as he remembers him, though his hair might be a bit longer than last time. Ryusei isn’t sure; he didn’t work alongside him for very long, and it wasn’t like he wanted the face of a human monster etched into his brain for—

No. He has to stop thinking that way. Yamada had only given him the price for Jiro’s return from his coma, but he had been eager to accept it just the same. No part of him had thought twice about killing Gentaro, after all. And part of him had always known that was what Yamada would ask for, and he had been willing to give it to him just the same.

“It’s been a long time, Yamada,” he says, pulling a book from his bag and setting it on his lap. “I’m sure you might remember me. You asked me to kill someone for you, and I did it.”

He lets that hang in the air between them for a few moments before taking a deep breath to steady himself. After all, it would not do to get upset here. The goal is to give Yamada company while he’s in the process of trying to recover from whatever happens to ail him; Ryusei wonders what it might be. He knows that Jiro was left in a coma due to the power of his malfunctioning switch. Had Cosmic States done something to Yamada that none of them had foreseen?

“I brought a book on self-defense. I’m into martial arts, as you’re probably aware from our limited interactions. I couldn’t help but notice you’re not much of a fighter yourself. You probably used your sleep aura to help you so that you didn’t have to do as much physically. It’s not a bad idea, to be honest.” Ryusei flips open to the index, scanning the items listed, already having a good idea as to what he should read to Yamada. “Gentaro pointed out you might face some opposition when you return to school. You might need these skills.”

Distantly, he wonders why Tatsugami had not been instructed to train the younger Zodiarts in their fighting abilities so they would be able to defend themselves when they were attacked. Had Gamou been so certain in his ability to achieve the Cosmos he truly did not care about the students he strung along during the process, or was he confident their abilities through their Horoscope forms would be enough? Several of them had not been good fighters. Even Aquarius had been easy enough to defeat when Gentaro figured out a way to destroy both gourds of healing water at the same time.

He opens to the proper section and stares at the page, tearing his gaze away to look at Yamada in bed once more. “I want to thank you, just the same,” he says softly. “You asked me to do something horrible, and in doing it, I learned more about myself. And even if my choice hurt Jiro, you still brought him out of his coma. You were able to do something I couldn’t do to help the person dearest to me. And for that, I thank you, Yamada.”

Clearing his throat, he starts reading, hoping Yamada can follow along well enough. A physical demonstration would be preferable, but that’ll have to wait for when he wakes up.

* * *

Miu brings fresh flowers when she visits, a bigger bouquet than Gentaro usually does, and is already chatting away as she sweeps the dying flowers in the trash and replaces them. Talking comes naturally to her, and even though Yamada can’t answer her back, this doesn’t make things any more difficult for her. Part of being successful in a college environment is learning to talk to people, even difficult people she would rather not speak to. This is even easier. Everyone else has been happy to come here.

“I feel like your color’s a little higher than what the others have said,” she says, leaning over Yamada to scrutinize his face. “I can’t remember you that well from school, I’m afraid. And I’d graduated by the time the others came to visit you at Subaruboshi.”

She smiles when she sees Hayabusa-kun and runs her hand over his head fondly, unsurprised to find that Yuki has left him here to keep Yamada company. If she examines the items that have come to grow into a collection on the side table, it’s very obvious who’s been here and who’s tried to leave encouragement behind them in their wake. She recognizes one of Tomoko’s handmade charms, a pamphlet on self-defense from Ryusei, a few space charms from Gentaro. And, of course, Hayabusa-kun.

To the bunch, she adds a small perfumed pouch, the scent supposedly soothing and for those in need of rest and relaxation. The most she could get out of the few students she had been able to speak to at Amanogawa had been that Yamada was seemingly constantly stressed.

That doesn’t really surprise her, not when she considers what the Club had told her about Yamada’s control freak tendencies. It made sense that he would lash out once he had the power to do so, and the power he’d had was frightening in more ways than one. She wonders how he must feel to have had it turned back on him in this way.

“I didn’t know what to bring to read, so I brought one of my textbooks. I’m in university now,” she says, sitting down next to the bed, crossing one leg over the other as she opens to the page she’d bookmarked in class. “This is my literature textbook. I know you liked to read, so I thought maybe you’d like to hear some of the advanced text we have to read in uni.”

Miu has a surprisingly steady reading voice, and Gentaro’s words about her hard work to achieve her dreams come back to her and make her smile mid-sentence. It was true and he’d known that much about her after only having met her a handful of times. It was part of his goal to be friends with everyone, including the very man who had headed the distribution of the Switches and turned their fellow classmates into monsters.

In more ways than one, she’s glad for Gentaro Kisaragi. For someone who could love with his entire heart, for someone who could see the good in everyone even when they refused to see it themselves. And he’d been right, in his own ways. So if he was willing to reach out to Yamada like this, then he must have had a good reason.

When she’s done reading, Miu stands and stretches out a hand, pushing a stray curl back from Yamada’s face. “Feel better, and wake up soon,” she says. “There are lots of little presents here waiting for you when you do.”

* * *

Ran brings Haru with her when she visits Yamada, their arms looped together as she walks him down the hallway, the two or three books he’d picked out underneath his other arm. For them, this is a wholly different circumstance. The others had been hesitant around Yamada, and for good reason, but Ran can’t forget that they have more in common than he does with the others, that even Haru had once held a Switch in his hands. The only difference was that his had never evolved into a Horoscopes Switch, and Ran’s had.

There are nights when she dreams about what it was like to be Pisces. It was a brief experience and a frightening one at that because Leo and Libra were formidable foes, and Leo in particular had been an excellent fighter. She had struggled to gain footing against him, even when she was able to liquify her body to give her more of an advantage over him.

The sight of Yamada in the hospital bed is, admittedly, a sad one. She had been Pisces for so short a time that there was no real damage done to her body, but it reminds her of when she had come to visit Haru. All he wanted to do was protect her, and he had nearly lost himself in the process. It was the only thing she would have changed about the entire experience, because she never wants someone she loves to suffer like that again.

She takes the chair while Haru sits at the foot of Yamada’s bed, resting a companionable hand on top of Hayabusa-kun. “Sorry it’s taken us so long to get around to coming to see you,” he says kindly, his legs swinging back and forth as he speaks. It makes Ran smile more than she thought possible. “But we’re here now. We brought a few different books to read.”

“Haru picked them all out for you. He was able to get more out of the drama club than any of the rest of us, and they said these were some of your favorites.” Ran holds her hands out for the books and Haru hands them over. She weighs each book in-hand before settling on one, opening to the first page. “I hope this is okay. We were told you’d read these over and over.”

Before she can start reading, Haru turns his gaze to Yamada in-bed, cocking his head at him. “I hope you’re not feeling too bad like this. I didn’t have fun in the hospital either.”

Ran glances up at him. “Are you going to be okay?”

“I’m fine. Leo was kind of scary when he showed up to the hospital but I didn’t doubt for a second that you’d be able to save me.” Haru grins at her, then turns that smile on Yamada, patting his hand comfortingly. “That’s what friends are really for, senpai. You don’t have to be afraid because they’re there for you. Maybe you’ll get to find that out when you wake up. Because you’ve got friends in us, the Kamen Rider Club.”

If there’s a slight hitch in Ran’s voice when she starts reading, so be it. Haru reads much more confidently, and Ran sits quietly and watches him, a fond smile on her face.

* * *

Ryusei had told him there was no reason for him to come visit, but Jiro had been insistent when his boyfriend had told him where he spent some of his free afternoons now. As far as Ryusei was concerned, Jiro had no reason to owe Yamada anything. It was Ryusei who had done as asked to make sure Jiro would be awakened, and even then, Jiro had almost died when he realized what Ryusei had let go of just to save him. Yamada might have woken up, but it hadn’t been Yamada who saved him in the end.

It was amazing just how much Ryusei could say without believing it himself.

Jiro had insisted on coming, just the same. He had been here once, and he had been able to hear Ryusei’s voice every time he came to see him. He couldn’t be sure that Yamada could hear all of them, but he’s willing to bet that he can, and so he wants to speak to him.

Unlike the others, he brings no books and no instruments with him. When he steps into the hospital room, his school bag over his shoulder, he has no intentions of reading anything. The others have been doing more than excellent in that department. All he wants to do is speak openly to someone in a similar position to the one he was in prior to now. He thinks Yamada will understand that and won’t begrudge him not coming to read to him.

“You probably don’t remember me very well. You were only in my hospital room for just a moment, and I sincerely doubt that you cared enough to remember my name. You only wanted Ryusei’s help, after all. That was likely your primary focus.” He peeks out the window at the calm scenery, then sits down in the chair beside Yamada’s bed. “I see Ryusei and his friends have been here. They’ve left you some gifts.”

Yamada is silent, of course. Jiro examines the monitors surrounding his bed, the oxygen mask covering his mouth. This is nothing new to him, and he understands what he sees perhaps a little better than the others. Ryusei might be the only person who can take in this and see more than just a high school boy in a coma, but Jiro isn’t sure.

“I wanted to come thank you in person. Even if you had Ryusei do something violent in order to wake me up, you were still able to do that. You could have lied to him, or put him to sleep once you were sure Gentaro was dead.” The thought had occurred to Jiro a million times when Ryusei explained what had happened to him. How could he ever have known that Yamada would hold true to his word and not turn on him? He couldn’t have. It was impossible. “You held true to what you said, and I find that honorable.”

He stretches out a hand, taking Yamada’s limp one in his own and giving it a gentle squeeze. He could have sworn through the haze at some points that he felt Ryusei near, or at least sensed him near, sensed the hands he knew so well clinging to his. He’s not sure if Yamada can feel the same, but it seems prudent to at least try. To let him know he isn’t alone in more than verbal reassurances if possible.

Jiro scoots a little closer to the bed so he can lower his voice. He doesn’t want the nurses to overhear what he has to say. “I wanted to become a Zodiarts to be as strong as Ryusei. That’s all I was thinking about when I accepted the Switch from Libra. I wonder if you were thinking the same thing. Or if there was something different you wanted from it.”

There had to be a reason people chose to accept the Switches. He’s heard from the others that Tomoko had refused to use hers, and other students had broken away from theirs in varying degrees, but they were exceptions to the rule. In large part, it was about power, about desire, about finally having the means to achieve it. Jiro had wanted to be stronger, and the Switch would give him that power. Yamada had wanted something, and that something he wanted must have been a powerful urge if he had been able to evolve into something even stronger.

“I know you’ve got to be going crazy lying in that bed. It’s not fun to just lie there while time passes around you and people walk in and out. You can’t help but think about how they’re out there living their lives, that this is just a stop for them.” Jiro squeezes Yamada’s hand again. “But I want you to listen to me. You have to focus on yourself, on healing and getting better, or you never will. And when you’re ready, you’ll wake up.”

* * *

“What in God’s name have you been doing to Yamada?” The voice makes Gentaro jump at least three feet out of his chair, but as the person stalking toward their table had come from directly behind him, the others had all seen him coming and look unsurprised at the commotion.

Gentaro turns around slowly to see Natsuji Kijima standing behind him. Since they’re outside of school, he’s dressed in his usual eye-catching flair— a floral print tunic under a long black coat, a matching floral scarf wrapped around his neck. Instead of the burgundy pants he’d been sporting previously, his current ones are a pale petal pink that matches the flowers on his tunic. Gentaro stares for maybe a second too long because before he sees it coming, Kijima’s rakugo fan smacks him in the temple, jarring him back to reality.

“I apologize for him,” Kengo says, pinching the bridge of his nose. “If he sees someone he finds attractive, he can’t help but stare like an idiot. What were you saying about Yamada?”

Kijima steps pointedly out of Gentaro’s line of sight, crossing his arms over his chest; Gentaro only pouts a little as he turns back around in his chair. “I’ve heard around the school you’ve been going to his room and harassing him. Why can’t you just let him rest in peace?”

“Hold on now,” Yuki says, frowning at him. “We haven’t been harassing him at all! Gen-chan had the idea that we should go and read to him since coma victims have a very high probability of hearing people speak to them.”

“Yamada almost always had his nose in a book when he was in class. If he wasn’t very intelligent and soft-spoken, he would have gotten in more trouble for it. But most teachers liked him well enough to let him off with it. He can’t exactly read in his current position,” Kengo adds.

Ryusei frowns, stirring his straw around and around in his drink, ice cubes clinking against the side of his glass. “What I don’t understand is why you care, Kijima.”

A soft murmur goes around the table following the statement, the rest of the Kamen Rider Club suitably confused at Ryusei’s point. It was a good one; Kijima had been with the rakugo club and Yamada with the drama club, and the two had never been in the same circles. They might have been Horoscopes at one point, but Kijima had seemingly disappeared right before the Aries incident at Subaruboshi took place. Unless they had conversed behind the scenes where no one had seen them, it seemed unlikely they had any connection at all.

“Tch. I’m just thinking about his well-being, trapped in that hospital bed and listening to you lot ramble on. You probably don’t even know what he likes to read,” Kijima snaps.

Ran clears her throat. “Actually, senpai, Haru was able to get a few of Yamada’s former friends to tell him the names of Yamada’s favorite books, so we took those to read to him. But Ryusei’s point still stands. If you two weren’t close, why do you care so much?”

Gentaro only needs to think it over for an instant before it makes perfect sense for him, and he pushes himself to his feet, slinging an arm around Kijima’s shoulders just as the boy’s cheeks start to burn. “I’m sure he’s just worried about him as a fellow Horoscope,” he says firmly, the others either frowning or cocking their heads at him. “We don’t know if they were friends when they were both Zodiarts, y’know. They probably were. Makes sense, they both like words.”

“I don’t think it works like that, Gentaro,” Ryusei says flatly.

But Kijima seizes on Gentaro’s words almost eagerly, which only confirms Gentaro’s suspicions. They didn’t have to be friends for Kijima to care, after all. “Exactly. We were plotting on how to destroy Fourze and Meteor together when I was yanked away. Tch. Whatever. I’m going to go see him this afternoon myself, and the rest of you better give us space. As old friends.”

“Of course we’ll respect that,” Gentaro says, flashing Kijima a grin. “We know what friendship means better than anyone. Have a good afternoon, okay?”

Kijima stalks off with a huff as Gentaro sits back down in his chair. Maybe Kijima and Yamada had never been friends, but Gentaro knows it only takes a single moment for something to develop, for feelings to grow. And he was serious when he said that they both loved words. Yamada’s love for drama and acting and Kijima’s love for wordplay and performance— there was a similar vein running through that, and Gentaro had recognized it.

He could only hope he was making the right call.

* * *

“You have a lot of nerve staying out this long, you know.” Kijima shuts the door behind him maybe a little forcefully, straightening his scarf before walking across the room to pull the blinds up, flooding the hospital room with light. Everything here is shadowy and quiet, and he hates it almost more than anything else. The whiteness in the room, the only noticeable colors the gifts no doubt left by the Kamen Rider Club, the green oxygen mask, and Yamada’s dark hair… It makes Kijima’s skin crawl. He’d put off coming here for far too long.

In all fairness, he had been working up the nerve for quite a few months, always backing down at the last instant. Being in stasis on the M-Bus meant he was more or less fine when he had been recovered, though a little weakness in his muscles had warranted a week or two in the hospital for full healing. The rest of the rakugo club had come to visit him; most of them had already forgiven him, having spoken to Kisaragi first.

It was during that time he found out Yamada was in a coma, having fallen after his defeat at Kisaragi’s hands. Unsurprising, given the Aries Zodiarts possessed the power to send people into comas as well as revive them from them, but still. And that hadn’t left Kijima’s mind.

He hates that Kisaragi had seen through his facade. He hated that Kisaragi had offered him a way out of being found out, which was more of a relief than he wanted to admit. He isn’t officially out to anyone but his closest friends in the rakugo club and his parents, who had been relieved to find out their son was gay and not turning into another monster. As for the rest of the school at large and especially Kisaragi’s little friendship club, none of them know. And he wants to keep it that way, at least a little bit longer.

He would have told Yamada, though. And he would have been happy to do it. Yamada had caught his eye during one of the drama club’s annual performances, one that rakugo club had come to see because it was supposed to be a satire and comedy has always been one of Kijima’s favorite things. It’s why he loves wordplay so much, why he loves to make people laugh.

They had spoken for only a few brief minutes after the performance, during which Kijima had gone out of his way to praise Yamada’s acting skills and his comedic pacing and delivery. That had been when Kijima saw the real Yamada, the gentle manner with which he conducted himself and the warm way he spoke. It had been enough to foster the beginnings of a crush, though Kijima himself had been unaware of how much it had grown since the beginning. When he had heard Yamada was in the hospital, his stomach had twisted so violently only his iron self-control over his own body had been enough to keep him from vomiting.

How could Kisaragi have seen the truth when he had been so out of touch with his own feelings?

“You’ve slept your way through most of the backlash from what we were and what we did so you didn’t have to take any of the blame. Shameful, you know.” Kijima flops down in the chair beside Yamada’s bed, glancing at the side table, at the presents the Kamen Rider Club had left behind in their wake. Without pausing, he retrieves his rakugo fan from his pocket and sets it with the rest. “You see this? I’m leaving you my fan. If you don’t wake up soon and return it to me, I’m going to have some very awkward performances coming up.”

His voice has been steady thus far, so he retrieves the play from his backpack, carefully protected by a plastic folder. The title is a familiar one as well, the name of the play he had first seen Yamada perform in. Ran and Haru had given him the idea to bring something that Yamada might be familiar with, and this had been the first thing he thought of when he took the time to puzzle out what Yamada might like to hear.

“Do you remember this play?” he asks, reciting the title and looking over at the bed. “It was the first time I saw you perform. The whole club came. I thought you were amazing. I… I still think that, you know. I didn’t stop, just because… Because I became Cancer. But you ended up transferring before I could ever tell you anything.”

The words make his throat tight, his voice wavering. Tears prick the corners of his eyes, and he really wished he hadn’t come alone even though he knew he didn’t have a choice.

He lets the play slip from his fingers and slumps forward onto the bed, his damp, hot cheek resting on the back of Yamada’s cool hand. “Please, wake up so I can tell you,” he whispers.

* * *

During the month of December, the Aries constellation is best visible in the sky around nine PM. Between Pisces to the west and Taurus to the east, the Aries constellation glitters faintly against the blue black velvet blackness of the sky. Hamal, the brightest star, shines prominently.

 

Thirty-five minutes past the hour, Tatsumori Yamada’s eyes begin to flutter open.

* * *

 

Gentaro receives the phone call the next morning and tells the others to meet him at the hospital. The only person he can’t call is Kijima, which is fine, since he doesn’t think Kijima would answer the phone even if Gentaro had his number. This one time, he breaks his own rule and takes his bike, riding up to the Kijima residence and knocking frantically on the door. It’s still early, so he’s not at all surprised when a surly Kijima answers, his hair ruffled, having thrown a robe on over his clothes to come answer the door. When he sees Gentaro standing in front of him, he manages to look even less impressed.

“What are you doing at my door this early, Kisaragi?” he grumbles, rubbing sleep out of his eyes.

“Yamada woke up last night,” he says, and Kijima’s head snaps up so quickly that Gentaro winces, wondering if he might have hurt himself. “I already told the others to meet me at the hospital so we can all say hello but I thought you might want a personal ride there.”

Before he can get a response, Kijima slams the door in his face, and Gentaro can hear the racing of feet up a set of stairs. He leans against the railing surrounding Kijima’s front porch and waits, a pleased smile on his face. Of course, he had been right. Kijima was no doubt getting dressed as quickly as possible now, and—

He doesn’t even get a chance to finish the thought before Kijima yanks the front door open and stumbles out onto the porch. There’s something almost gauzy about the dark red shirt he’s wearing, but makes himself stop staring as soon as he realizes he’s doing it. He knows Kijima is interested in Yamada; it’s evident by the way Kijima huffs at him, grabs him by the arm, and drags him down the steps to where his bike waits.

The drive is much shorter than taking the train and it surprises Gentaro not at all that they’re the first to arrive at the hospital. Kijima is quick to drag him inside, then hesitates at the elevator, throwing a frightened look in Gentaro’s direction.

“It’s okay to be nervous,” Gentaro tells him, taking him by the hand and giving his fingers a squeeze. “I get it. But it’s going to be okay. We both know he’s gonna want to see you.”

Kijima swallows so hard his Adam’s apple bobs, his head dropping, eyes fixing on the floor. “I hope so. I just… I just want him to be okay, more than anything.”

“He will be. He just needed time to heal, and now he’s well enough to wake up.” Keeping his grip on Kijima’s hand, Gentaro leads him into the elevator, pressing the button for the correct floor. “His parents are so happy we were comin’ to see him, too.”

The room itself is not dark when they arrive at the door, Gentaro rapping his knuckles gentle on the frame when he finds Yamada’s parents sitting beside his bed, talking to him in quiet, hushed tones. They both look up at the sound and Gentaro gives them his brightest smile, feeling Kijima standing quietly next to him, trying to project the calmest aura he can.

“The others will be here in a bit to visit, too. We just got here first,” Gentaro says, then exchanges a few pleasantries with Yamada’s parents. They’ve been nothing but gracious to him in the time he’s been spending with their son, no doubt happy to know he wasn’t alone through all of this. “I promise we won’t tire him out too much.”

Yamada’s mother closes the door behind her, no doubt to give them some privacy, so Gentaro turns his megawatt smile to the boy sitting up in bed for a change, leaning against the pillows behind him. Tatsumori Yamada looks exhausted, no doubt not used to actually being awake and engaging all of his senses and movement once again, but the quiet, tired smile on his face reassures Gentaro that he’s doing just fine. And he’s holding Hayabusa-kun on his lap.

“I’m glad to see you two are friends now,” Getaro says, sitting down in one of the chairs by Yamada’s bed. Another had no doubt been brought in so his parents could sit together with him. Now, though, Kijima takes the empty chair. “Yuki thought you’d like him.”

Yamada chuckles softly and nods. “I was wondering what he would look like when I woke up. Her reading gave me an idea, though her customizations are rather cute.”

“So you did hear us reading to you!” Gentaro beams at this knowledge; he had been right all along, Yamada could hear them reading to him. So it had well been worth the effort. “That’s good to hear. We all tried to come as much as we could.”

“And I thank you for that. It made the quiet more bearable as I knew it wouldn’t last forever. Your comics were rather amusing.” Yamada’s eyes drift past him and Gentaro leans back, making sure he doesn’t disrupt the conversation about to take place. “I am surprised to see you here, Kijima. I would have thought… You wanted that conversation to be private.”

“Don’t mind me, I’m just going to be checking out the scenery,” Gentaro announces, pushing himself up from the chair and moving to the window, easing his earbuds into his ears in plain view so they know he won’t be able to hear him.

Once Yamada is certain this conversation is going to be a private one, he turns his eyes back to Kijima. “You left me your fan.”

“I told you to wake up soon to give it back to me. But I’ve decided you can keep it now.” Kijima sits up a little straighter in his chair, fiddling with the end of his scarf. “I’ve replaced it. I thought it would be better to let you keep it, as a symbol of… Our friendship.”

“You aren’t interested in friendship with me, Kijima. You made that perfectly clear when you came to see me the first time.” Yamada can still remember the sensation of Kijima’s cheek against his hand, though it was faint, but it was still there enough for him to feel. “Which is perfectly fine. I’ve had a lot of time to think over what you told me.”

Kijima laughs softly, shaking his head, running nervous fingers through his hair. “You’re right. I don’t want to just be friends. But I am interested in friendship, just the same. You can’t truly love someone if you’re not at least friends with them. You have to get to know them first.”

“I suppose you’re correct. Friendship is key to building deeper relationships. And I’ve been shown that friendship is, indeed, very important in its own ways as well.” Yamada’s dark eyes stray to the table and Kijima’s do as well— the pile of gifts from the Kamen Rider Club, from Gentaro and his friends. “I had not expected anyone to come see me, and I had not expected them to speak with such frankness and honesty to me. It was uncomfortable at times, but I suppose that friendship means not shying away from the truth even when it hurts.”

Kijima knows exactly what he means, bowing his head in acknowledgment. “We helped a terrible man do terrible things and we hurt people in the process. There is no taking it back now. The best we can do is atone and apologize for what we’ve done and who we’ve hurt.”

“There was a vein of truth in something the others kept bringing up to me,” Yamada says, and Kijima glances up at him, brows furrowed. “It was implied that I must have been lonely. To be so quiet, to not have many friends, to be at a different high school where I didn’t know anyone. But that loneliness has always been of my own creation. I couldn’t control people the way I wanted to, so I pushed them away. It was a very destructive life I was living.”

Glancing over his shoulder to see Gentaro still looking out the window, tapping his fingers against the sill in time with the song playing through his earbuds, Kijima pushes himself up and moves to sit on the edge of the bed, taking one of Yamada’s hands in his. “You don’t have to live that life anymore, and you definitely don’t have to live it alone.”

“I would ask you for one thing, if you don’t mind,” Yamada says, a curious edge to his voice now. His eyes flick toward the window, then back. “Not that I don’t mind friendship before love, but… I don’t know that a kiss would be too much to ask.”

Kijima’s face flames almost instantly at the suggestion, but all he does is spare a glance over his shoulder to make absolutely sure Gentaro isn’t watching before he leans in, fingers careful on the side of Yamada’s face as he presses a kiss to his lips. They’re cool and a little chapped, but Yamada leans into him without hesitation and Kijima feels the soft sigh against his mouth, the way Yamada tilts his head just so so their lips meet seamlessly.

When Kijima draws back, the heat in his face has faded somewhat, but his heart still trips a little to see Yamada’s slightly flushed cheeks, the new shine in his eyes. “How was that?”

“I think I may be beginning to understand why kisses are written so dramatically now.” Yamada places a hand to his chest, laughing a little. “My heart is pounding. That’s unusual.”

This time, Kijima’s blush returns full force. “Glad to have been of service.”

“Kengo just texted. The others all just met downstairs and are on their way up!” Gentaro flops down on the bed beside Yamada, throwing an enthusiastic arm around his shoulders. “Everyone is real excited to see you. Ryusei says even Jiro came. That’s nice, isn’t it?”

Yamada smiles softly, fondly, and nods. “Yes, it is.”

Kijima slumps back in his chair, grabbing a fistful of his scarf and covering his face with it.

Sixty-six light years away, Hamal glitters away in the depths of space.


End file.
